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Gulshan Prakash v. State of Haryana (2010) 1 SCC477

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Gulshan Prakash v. State of Haryana (2010) 1 SCC 477||Case Summary  Introduction  In this appeal, the Court has interpreted Article 15(4) of the Fundamental Right. It has been added by the 1st Amendment Act, of 1951. Facts The State of Haryana instructed Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak to conduct entrance examination for MD/MS/PG courses for the Session 2008-2009. The appellant made a representation to the Health Secretary for providing reservation for SC and ST in the Post Graduate courses, Since there was no response from the Health Secretary the Appellant filed a petition in the High Court.  The High Court dismissed the petition of the appellant therefore the appellant approached the Supreme Court by Special Leave Petition under Article 136. Appellant Contentions  MDU, Rohtak has provided 20% reservation for the graduate level courses or undergraduate courses therefore the said University should also provide reservation in for the PG courses.  The Government o
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Abdul Karim v. State of Karnataka (2000)

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 Abdul Karim v. State of Karnataka (2000)


Introduction

The present appeal was raised against the order of a Special Designated court which withdrew the charges made under TADA, on an application made by Special Public Prosecutor under S.321 of the CrPC. The appellant alleged that the application to withdraw the prosecution was made in lieu of the release of actor Rajkumar who had been abducted by the prime accused Veerappan. 

Facts

  1. Veerappan, a prime accused in various cases under different penal laws for committing offenses such as smuggling of elephants ivory and sandalwood, kidnapping, murder, and so on, abducted a famous actor Rajkumar and 3 others, out of them 1 was escaped and 1 was released.
  2. The accused Veerappan put a total of 12 demands before the State Government of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for the release of Rajkumar and another. 
  3. Out of the 12 demands, 2 are important for our consideration in this case. The first was to release his associates from Karnataka prison, and the second was to release the 5 prisoners from Tamilnadu prison. Both the government had agreed to act favorably.
  4. Thereafter, on an application for withdrawal from the prosecution under S.321 of the CrPC made by the Special Public Prosecutor against the charges under TADA, the Special Designated Court consented to withdraw and discharged all the accused. Thereafter all the accused were also released on bail.
  5. Also the Tamilnadu government by an order discharged the accused of the offenses under TADA and the National Security Act.
  6. Against this decision of the Special Court and order of the Tamilnadu government, two public interest petitions and an appeal by the appellant Abdul Karim (father of Sakeel Ahmed who was killed by Veerappan and his associates) have been filed in the Supreme Court.

Appellant Contention

  1. The decision of the public prosecutor is without any cogent reason to drop the charges of the known offender.
  2. It is the duty of the Special Public Prosecutor to inform the court the reasonable reasons to withdraw the prosecution. 

Issue 

  1. What things should be taken into consideration while deciding the application of withdrawing the prosecution? 

Ratio Decidendi 

  1. Although the application by the Special Public Prosecutor submitted that it has been made in the public interest in order to restore peace and normalcy in the border area, the Special Public Prosecutor failed to provide any reason or any material regarding his apprehension of the disturbance of the peace and normalcy in the border area on which the Court can rely to conclude that the Special Public Prosecutor had applied his mind and exercised its discretion in good faith.
  2. Also the Ld. Judge did not inquire the Special Public Prosecutor regarding the opposition made by the appellant in which it was alleged that the Special Public Prosecutor was acting for the government to fulfill the demands of the prime accused Veerappan by releasing his associates.
  3. The application before the Designated Court at Chennai only submitted that due to the changed circumstances and in the public interest, the prosecution shall be withdrawn. There is no mention of what those changed circumstances were.
  4. The Special Public Prosecutor should have considered the probability of the release of Rajkumar with or without withdrawal of charges, the impact on the witnesses after the release of the accused, and so on.
  5. In the affidavit placed before this Court, the Special Public Prosecutor used the phrase" I was informed" which means he did not by himself assess the situation based on any material. He merely acted on the instruction of the Government.
  6. In case of withdrawal, even after the instruction of the government, it is the duty of the Public Prosecutor to apply his mind and to see whether the instruction to withdraw is justified. 
  7. The Court in an application under Section 321 has to see whether the application is made in good faith, in the interest of public policy and justice and not to prevent the process of law.
  8. The power of the Court under S. 321 is supervisory, not adjudicatory.
  9. An application under S.321 shall be made only after the Public Prosecutor is satisfied by applying his mind to the relevant material in good faith that such withdrawal is in the public interest and will not prevent the process of law or cause injustice.

Decision 

  1. There are no cogent reasons to withdraw the prosecution.
  2. The Special Public Prosecutor acted only upon the instructions of the Government of the State of Karnataka without applying his own mind.
  3. Hence, he did not follow the requirement of the law under Section 321, consequently, the Court allowed the appeal. 

Summary

This case is known as the Rajkumar Kidnapping case in which a prime accused in various cases, Veerappan, abducted a famous actor Rajkumar, and demanded to release his associates and so on which has been accepted by the Government of Karnataka and Tamilnadu. As a result, the government instructed the Public Prosecutor to issue an application to release them to maintain peace in border areas and to avoid unpleasant situations. The Court observed that under Section 321, an application under S.321 shall be made only after the Public Prosecutor is satisfied by applying his mind to the relevant material in good faith that such withdrawal is in the public interest and will not prevent the process of law or cause injustice. The Court by allowing the appeal held that the Special Public Prosecutor acted only upon the instructions of the Government of the State of Karnataka without applying his own mind. Hence, he did not follow the requirement of the law under Section 321, consequently, the Court allowed the appeal.

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